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Mental health of 15% of school-aged children endangered by peer victimization

‘Moderate exposure to peer victimization’ happens to many children, and does not seem to harm their mental health, a recent Canadian study shows. Fifteen per cent of the school-aged children in this study however, was bullied heavily and repeatedly over the years, and was associated with “an increased risk of experiencing severe symptoms consistent with mental health problems.” For this category, extreme bullying seems to often continue until early adolescence; therefore, the authors of the study recommend that “antibullying interventions should begin before enrolment in the formal school system”. Louise Arseneault (King’s College, London), member of the research team, will perform a keynote lecture about bullying, violence exposure and child mental health at the 2018 IACAPAP Congress in Prague (23-27 July).Read the full article from the Canadian Medical Association Journal. Read more about bullying and its long-term consequences.

Special anniversary bulletin

IACAPAP celebrates

“ There was at that time an explosion of new knowledge (psychometrics, psychoanalysis...) and of public health paradigms (mental hygiene, child guidance movement...). IACAPAP was born in that context in 1937 ”, says Bruno Falissard, president of IACAPAP, in his introduction to the no less than 63 page anniversary bulletin of the International Association for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions. This special issue contains an extensive retrospect, including a worship to the great men and women who shaped IACAPAP through the last eighty years. Read the full bulletin.

First preparations for the ESCAP 2019 Congress are underway. The congress is going to be held in Vienna, Austria – from June 30th until July 2nd – under the responsibility of the Austrian ESCAP member, ÖGKJP. Read the congress president's welcome address and find out more about the congress.

3 in 4 young children experience violence by 'caregivers'

Close to 300 million (3 in 4) children aged 2 to 4 worldwide experience violent discipline by their caregivers on a regular basis. Worldwide, close to 130 million (slightly more than 1 in 3) students between the ages of 13 and 15 experience bullying. These are just two of the recent key facts, reported by Unicef, the United Nations Children's Fund.Read more.

SFBUP (Sweden) develops mood and sleep diary App

The Swedish Association for Child and Adolescent psychiatry (SFBUP) has financed and developed a mood and sleep diary App, titled Uppskattadindag (appreciate your day), as an application for mobile phones and Windows 10 to make it easier for patients to record and keep track of their mental state and daily functioning over time.Read more.

Neonatal critical illness related to memory deficits

Neonatal critical illness may lead to long-term memory deficits and associated hippocampal alterations. Survivors of preterm birth, congenital heart disease, and severe respiratory failure are often victim of common conditions associated with their neonatal illness, rather than a consequence of underlying diagnosis. A research team from Erasmus University Rotterdam and Great Ormond Street Hospital London presents a review in The Lancet Child and Adolescent Health (January 2018).View the abstract.

THE ESCAP 2017 ROUGHCUTS

View the ESCAP 2017 Roughcuts: a series of unedited, uncensored video talks by ESCAP presiden Stephan Eliez with prominent lecturers at the ESCAP 2017 Congress, on key issues in child and adolescent psychiatry. Featuring Patrick Luyten on adolescent depression, Marie Schaer on autism research, Patrick McGorry on early intervention for young people with emerging mental disorders, Maria Melchior on social inequalities in children's mental health, Tony Charman on early treatment of autism, Martin Debbané on mind and brain, Dieter Wolke on bullying, Johannes Hebebrand on screening, and Celso Arango on psychopharmacology in child and adolescent psychiatry.

2017 ESCAP CONGRESS

Delegates' feedback to the Geneva conference

Delegates at the 2017 ESCAP Congress in Geneva commented very positively to the event. Almost all (97%) of the respondents to the after-congress survey said to consider to visit the next congress in – 48% were already "quite sure" to attend the Vienna event in 2019. Apart from many compliments, the 2017 ESCAP audience also contributed a treasure of comments and ideas that will help ESCAP to match this excellent performance at the next congress. Critical remarks were aimed at the high number of parallel high quality talks, which made it hard to chose which session to attend.Read more about the survey outcomes.

First Perinatal 'Total Health' Congress

The First International Perinatal TOTAL Health Congress will be co-organized by the World Psychiatric Association (WPA) and twelve other Romanian and international organizations in June 2018 at Sinaia, in the Prahova mountains of Romania. This congress wants to define the importance of the first thousand days of life and their lifelong health consequences, with a focus on research, education and training, health systems and services, and health policies. It will highlight the advantages of collaboration and integration in achieving "TOTAL Health".Plenary speakers are Michael Marmot (UK), Amanda Howe (UK), Julie Boom (USA), Hany Aly (USA), Charles Nemeroff (USA) and Helen Hermann (Australia). Read more.

ALAN APTER INTERVIEW

Prevention of suicidal behaviour in adolescents

“The idea is to try and encourage adolescents and children to feel more free about asking for help”, says Dr Alan Apter of Schneider Children's Medical Center, Petach Tikva (Israel). Read the exclusive Alan Apter interview on ESCAP’s research pages, including abstracts and original presentations, backgrounds, and publications.

Former ESCAP president

Professor Walter Bettschart dies at age 90

The Board of ESCAP is sad to report the passing of professor Walter Bettschart at the age of ninety. Professor Bettschart was a former president of ESCAP and organizer of the Lausanne congress in 1983. He published over fifty scientific papers and books, and contributed to a variety of issues in child and adolescent psychiatry, such as: epidemiological research, developmental disorders, social adaptation, child abuse and neglect, (early) adolescence, childhood dementias, behavioural disorders and many more (view publications). ESCAP expresses its sincere condolences to the family and friends of professor Bettschart.View obituary.

Tourette syndrome: newest findings on treatment and pathophysiology

At the ESCAP 2017 Congress in Geneva, Professor Pieter J. Hoekstra (Netherlands) has performed a state-of-the-art lecture, titled: Tourette syndrome: an update on newest findings on treatment and pathophysiology. Read the Pieter Hoekstra interview.

Trilingual interview

Growing up poor: a high-risk transition

Inequality is related to the onset of mental health problems, confirms Maria Melchior, member of ERES, the prominent social epidemiology research team of the collaborating Paris universities. Melchior was the opening keynote lecturer at the ESCAP 2017 Congress about Social inequalities in children’s mental health. Read the interview in English, French or German and learn about her answers to the high risks of low socioeconomic status (SES).

WACIT AT #ESCAP2017

World Awareness for Children in Trauma

World Awareness for Children in Trauma (WACIT) has finished its second phase to a fundraising campaign on six continents in six weeks. The 6x6 traveled Greece, Turkey, Indonesia, Australia, USA, Brazil, Kenya and Tanzania. Professor Panos Vostanis (University of Leicester, UK) visited charities to train staff and volunteers in helping children in trauma. Training workshops were combined with sports events with the charities and children living in slums, favelas, disadvantaged communities, or who are homeless. Read his report. Professor Vostanis has reported on the WACIT 6x6 as a state-of-the-art speaker at the ESCAP 2017 Congres.

Mood problems: the person-centred approach

Professor Patrick Luyten (Leuven, London), pleads for a more person-centred approach of mood problems in young people, a greater focus on developmental factors and underlying vulnerability, and less parent blaming. Luyten was a keynote speaker at the 2017 ESCAP Congress in Geneva. Read the interview.

RESEARCH ROADMAP

"High level priority" for youth mental health research

The ROAMER consortium has published its important final recommendations on European mental health research. The end report (Roadmap) assigned the number one “high level priority” to “research into mental disorder prevention, mental health promotion and interventions in children, adolescents and young adults.” Read more.

KEYNOTE AT ESCAP 2017

"Double standard for access to mental health care"

“Imagine if people with cancer or heart disease were told: ‘It’s not serious enough, come back later when it is worse’. We are talking about a massive double standard here between mental illness and somatic illness.”Professor Patrick McGorry (Melbourne, Australia) takes an activist point of view on the access of young people to mental health services. Specifically in their transition from youth to adulthood, adolescents with mental health problems often meet the care system at its weakest. McGorry has presented a keynote lecture at the ESCAP Congress in Geneva. Read the interview (English / français / Deutsch).

KEYNOTE AT ESCAP 2017

"Dazugehören": immediate help for refugee children

Immediate help for refugee children who need it and research into understanding their needs. These are two of the current missions of professor Jörg Fegert (Ulm, Germany), renowned specialist in child abuse and traumatisation. ‘Dazugehören’ (Being part of it) was the title of his keynote lecture at the 2017 DGKJP Kongress (Ulm, Germany), and at the July 2017 ESCAP Congress (Geneva). Read the interview in English, French or German.

NURSING AT ESCAP 2017

Transition to adulthood and mental health problems: too hard to cope with

Dr Eva Lindgren's most recent study shows that being a parent to a young adult with mental illness in transition to adulthood can be an unbearable burden. “Too hard to cope with.” Lindgren (Luleå University of Technology, Sweden) presented her findings from the nursing angle at the ESCAP 2017 Congress in Geneva. Read the interview.

KEYNOTE AT ESCAP 2017

Charman: study on reducing autism "very promising"

Professor Tony Charman (King’s College London) says he aims “to make differences between trajectories and try to divert children from a pathway where they would possibly go on to develop autism, to a more typical outcome”. As a keynote speaker at the ESCAP 2017 Congress, Charman has presented his “very promising” study on the effects of early intervention on reducing autism. Read the interview in English, French or German.

KEYNOTE AT ESCAP 2017

Focused screening for mental disorders

Pre- and postnatal screening instruments are at every clinician's disposal. But does it make sense to apply these instruments for universal screening? What are the underlying aims? Are we able to provide follow-up treatments? Professor Johannes Hebebrand provided an overview and weighed the considerations. Read the interview on his keynote lecture at the ESCAP 2017 Congress in Geneva (Switzerland). This story is available in English, French and German.

AEPEA AT ESCAP 2017

Bernard Golse on joint therapies and interactive guidance

The president of AEPEA (L’Association Européenne de Psychopathologie de l’Enfant et de l’Adolescent), professor Bernard Golse, has performed a state of the art lecture at the 2017 ESCAP Congress in Geneva. Read more.

LARGE SAMPLE STUDY

High prevalence of mental disorders in Austrian adolescents

A large sample epidemiological study to assess the prevalence of mental disorders in Austrian adolescents between 10 and 18 years has now been published in ECAP, the official ESCAP journal. The Austrian and British investigators conclude that "DSM-5 mental health disorders are highly prevalent among Austrian adolescents" and recommend that "early access to effective interventions for these problems is needed to reduce burden due to mental health disorders." Read the article (open access) or download the pdf.

KEYNOTE AT ESCAP 2017

The long-term effects of bullying

Bullying has underestimated long-term effects into adulthood on depression, anxiety disorder, increased self-harm, increased suicide, and psychotic symptoms.Professor Dieter Wolke (University of Warwick, UK) reveals the huge impact that bullying by peers and siblings can have on children's mental health. He has performed a keynote lecture at the ESCAP 2017 conference in Geneva. Read the interviewin English, en français, auf Deutsch.